OXFORD.- To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the Bodleian Libraries present a major exhibition, fittingly called Shakespeare's Dead, which reveals the unique ways in which Shakespeare brings dying, death and the dead to life. The exhibition is curated by two University of Oxford English professors, Simon Palfrey and Emma Smith, whose innovative research on this subject underpins the exhibition’s content.

‘This unique exhibition explores a fascinating theme in Shakespeare’s works,’ said curator Emma Smith. ‘Shakespeare’s Dead shows how Shakespeare channelled the universal fear of death into dramatic moments that continue to affirm life for audiences and readers around the world. The exhibition will be an opportunity for visitors to rediscover Shakespeare in a whole new light.’

The exhibition features many gems from the Bodleian’s world-famous collections, including Shakespeare’s First Folio, the earliest editions of his works including Romeo & Juliet and Venus and Adonis, and many other original quarto playbooks. Shakespeare's own works are accompanied by illuminating examples of poetry, sermons, pamphlets, plays, diaries and illustrations by Shakespeare’s predecessors and contemporaries across Europe.

The eclectic objects on display include loans from the Ashmolean Museum, and from Brasenose and Corpus Christi Colleges and Oxfordshire Museums Service; a specially commissioned animated film by artist Tom Cross, based on local primary school pupils’ drawings of Shakespearean death scenes; and a 'Dover Cliff' triptych painted by Oxford artist Tom de Freston. Further bespoke installations include a replica of Desdemona’s deathbed.

Shakespeare's Dead reveals the divisive, often violent religious context of death in Shakespeare's time. It also shows how death on stage is different from death in real life: the dead come to life, ghosts haunt the living and scenes of mourning are subverted by the fact that the supposed corpse still breathes. The exhibition features death-haunted heroes such as Macbeth and Hamlet, and death-teasing heroines like Juliet, Ophelia, and Cleopatra. It explores the fear of 'something after death' and characters' terrifying visions of being dead. But it also uncovers the constant presence of death in Shakespeare's comedies and how the grinning jester might be a leering skull in disguise.

Above all, the exhibition shows how death in Shakespeare's plays tends to affirm or transform life - both its pain and its promise.

The ingenious ways of dying in Shakespeare, from suicide and murder, and from workaday dagger to baroque pie recipe, are all revealed in this unique exhibition. ‘Shakespeare scripts his scenes of dying with extraordinary care,’ said curator Simon Palfrey. ‘Famous last words – like Hamlet's “The rest is silence”, Mercutio's “A plague on your houses”, or Richard III's “My kingdom for a horse” – are also giving crucial choices to the actors as to exactly how and when to die. Instead of the blank finality of death, we get a unique entrance into the loneliness or confusion of dying.’

Shakespeare’s Dead takes visitors on a journey into the land of Shakespeare's dead. It magnifies specific moments, just as a play does, giving visitors a dynamic, immersive feel for the terminal experiences being enacted.

Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian said: ‘We are delighted to be collaborating with our colleagues in the English Faculty at Oxford to present this unique perspective on Shakespeare’s works. We are delighted to show some of our most compelling literary treasures, in the new ST Lee Gallery at the Weston Library. Shakespeare’s Dead will be an exciting addition to the calendar of events taking place across the city as part of the Shakespeare Oxford 2016 celebrations.’